There has been a long existing need to provide handicapped persons as well as the weak and infirm, such as post-operative patients in hospital care, with toilet facilities (hereinafter, a commode or toilet) which is suitable for their use without assistance or with minimal assistance from hospital or home nursing personnel. Apart from obvious advantages of such a commode such as reducing the demands on the time of often overworked nursing personnel, it has been determined that, psychologically, many elderly and failing persons tend to give up hope once they can no longer use a toilet without assistance from others. Therefore, a commode that can be readily used by handicapped or infirm individuals would be of real value. Such a commode seat must provide a safe lifting mechanism to raise and lower a person so that a commode may be used without the assistance of love ones, medical professionals or others. Another major requirement of such a commode is the ability to be able to clean the commode without interference from the lifting mechanism.
Several such commodes or toilets have been proposed in the prior art and, in particular, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,587,678 (Love et al); 4,185,335 (Alvis); 3,905,051 (Gozdziewski); and 3,473,174 (Cool). While the toilet devices disclosed in these patents generally enable use thereof without outside assistance, and, are designed to aid or facilitate seating of the ill, the elderly, and the handicapped on a toilet or commode, these devices present safety problems as well as problems associated with the cleaning of the commode.
Briefly considering these patents, the Love patent discloses a boosting device comprising a stationary frame having handrails and a movable seat assembly. The Love device uses a single electric motor which drives a screw mechanism that raises and lowers the unit. It will be appreciated that the provision of an electric motor on the floor of a bathroom presents a potential electrocution hazard.
The Alvis patent discloses a toilet seat for the infirm that is mounted to a conventional toilet bowl by bolts. The device is hydraulically powered by the water supply for the toilet. The seat portion of the device is elevated or lowered in a preselected arc by a hand-activated valve. However, while the device includes an adjustable seat mechanism the device suffers a number disadvantages. For example, the lift mechanism includes uncovered scissoring link members and such uncovered scissoring link members provide a potential hazard to an unwary, careless or infirm user in that the body parts or the clothing of such a user can be caught therein. To compound this hazard, the device is hydraulically powered down so that, in effect, it provides a powered scissor effect. Further, the device of this patent offers no support in and of itself and is, in general, only as stable as the commode that it is attached to.
The Gozdziewski patent discloses a toilet seat cover comprising hand grips for supporting an infirm person. The device is bolted to a standard commode. This device does not provide an automated boosting arrangement and also presents problems with respect to the cleaning of the commode.
The Cool patent discloses a hydraulic lift mechanism that enables an incapacitated person to shift from a standing position to a sitting position and vice versa. This is accomplished by a hydraulic lift system that can raise or lower the toilet seat to any desired level. This device uses a reversible motor and hydraulic pressure to accomplish raising of the seat. The device presents hazards and suffers drawbacks similar to those discussed above. For example, the device includes multiple scissoring linkages that present a safety hazard. Also, the device is a hydraulically operated unit which is powered by an electric motor and pump, and, as noted, such an electric motor presents a potential threat of electrocution in a bathroom environment.